The Predominantly Black Institutions Program bill was first introduced by Illinois Congressman Danny K. Davis and was signed into law in 2008 by President George H. W. Bush. This legislation amended the Higher Education Act to provide resources to Predominantly Black Institutions. This designation is projected to apply to 75 institutions in 17 states, benefiting approximately 265,000 students. Eligible institutions must have an enrollment of undergraduate students that is at least 40 percent Black American students and meet other criteria to apply.

The Predominantly Black Institutions Undergraduate Program specifically includes support of two-year projects that establish or strengthen programs that will increase the institution's capacity to prepare students for instruction in the following areas:

• Science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) Health educationInternationalization or globalizationTeacher preparation; or Improving educational outcomes of African-American males.

 The Predominantly Black Institutions Undergraduate Program Grant Program is administered by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education’s Teacher and Student Development Programs Service.

Chicago State University has adopted the following three programmatic goals for the Predominantly Black Institutions (PBI) Program:

GOAL I: --Establish and conduct activities that will increase the number of African American males in the pipeline for higher education at Chicago State University.  

GOAL II: --Create a university setting where African American males can flourish with encouragement, develop and cultivate positive expectations, and be guided and retained toward timely degree completion. 

GOAL III: --Conduct research and assessment activities to identify risk factors, barriers, intervention measures that can negatively affect black males in higher education, and disseminate “best practices. The project is intrusive in terms of focusing on African American males becoming connected to the university environment academically, culturally, and socially. The University's undergraduate student body is 85 percent African American and approximately one third of the African American population is male.  The PBI project “Raising Expectations: A Black Male Initiative” addresses institutional weaknesses to help better recruit, enroll, retain and graduate more African American males. The proposed project specifically provides for improving and/or developing those services and experiences that will attain the following overall goal:  • To increase the number and persistence of African American males at Chicago State University by providing an environment that emphasizes leadership, academic and positive male development through shared experiences.  

The specific project design includes three components for the delivery of project services. They are introduced and briefly described below.  

PRECOLLEGE PROGRAMS Component I consists of pre-college activities designed to increase the number and quality of African American males in the college pipeline. Basic services include: college visits, developing articulation agreements with area community colleges, socio-cultural enrichment activities and leadership development activities that will give participants a broader view of the world as well as provide incentives for college entry.

 POSTSECONDARY PROGRAMS Component II consists of Postsecondary Programs to be conducted at the campus that are designed to develop learning communities. The project, in addition to strengthening and coordinating existing student support services, also establishes the African American Male Resource Center (AAMRC) at the university. Staff provide services that help to better serve, track, and develop students with a wide range of needs.

 INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

Component III includes the research and assessment activities that will lead to the discovery and presentation of best practices defined through the various activities of the project.  In addition to tapping into current projects underway by the CSU faculty, the project hosts a visiting scholar, a specialist in the area of retention of at risk students, preferably, Black males to help develop a research program. The continued role of the visiting scholar will be to aid the university in institutionalizing “best practices.”